Ask a First Year Student

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>I'm a first year student from an urban area. My family is middle class. I'm a Black male. I went to a blue ribbon public school, and graduated with a GPA of 3.82 (I don't know my exact rank, but I definitely was not in the top 10%). I'm a member of Swarthmore's queer community. I participated in the Swarthmore Summer Institute, which means I came to campus 1 week early, along with about 30 other first year students, and learned about diversity and leadership.</p>

<p>My prospective major is sociology & anthropology, but I haven't actually taken a course in that program yet. My classes for this semester are Intro Computer Science, Black Liberty & Black Literature, Political Theory, and Playwriting Workshop.</p>

<p>The workload is not impossible. In fact, my classes seemed easy in the beginning. I have 10 hours of classes every week. I try to study for 30 hours per week, but I'm usually under my quota.</p>

<p>I currently don't have a campus job, but I'll soon interview for a position as a tour guide. I love to answer questions, so please, ask to your heart's content.</p>

2

<p>Thanks for posting this—definately goes against the stereotype of Swarthmore. Do students seem to enjoy classes, or do most seem overwhelmed by the workload? What do most students do for fun? Swarthmore is one of my top choice schools and I’m sold on the academics, but am trying to get a sense of the campus/social life:) Also, do you think I have a shot at getting in with a 2040 SAT (760 CR, 700W, 580M), subject tests (Lit 710 US History 680) APUSH 5 and 4.0 GPA? My interview was extremely positive and my essay will be fairly strong:) Thanks</p>

3

<p>Sarah, nearly everyone enjoys their classes. The workload is only as difficult as you make it to be. So if you take only engineering, biology, and math courses, you’d have a tough time. But then again a lot of people here are absorbed into their studies, so it doesn’t seem so bad. </p>

<p>Your scores seem a little low, unless you’re from a specific socioeconomic background. For example, if you come from a white privileged back ground, or if you’re Asian or an international student, those numbers are rather subpar in comparison to other people from your background. Getting into college is about doing the best you can in the environment you’re given, so the SATs, which provide a universalized standard, may not always be the best assessment of your skills.</p>

<p>But of course, I’d aim for as high as possible. Getting a few extra 50-100 points WOULD help, especially in your Math score. I think the range is like 680-760 for the middle 50 percent of students here. </p>

<p>Just make sure your Why Swat essay conveys how much of a “Swattie” you are, and that should be able to make up for low SATs.</p>

4

<p>Reminder for everyone that first semester freshman year is completely Pass/Fail so classes may seem “easier.” Let’s see what the perception is after second semester. ;)</p>

5

<p>Thanks for posting this—definately goes against the stereotype of Swarthmore.</p>

<p>For starters, I should mention that all the Swarthmore stereotypes are half true. Only half true.</p>

<p>***Do students seem to enjoy classes, or do most seem overwhelmed by the workload? ***</p>

<p>Swatties simultaneously enjoy and are overwhelmed by their classes. It’s best if you take classes that you know you’ll love. If you don’t love to learn what you’re learning, Swarthmore will overwhelm you in a bad way. Professors are an integral part of class enjoyment. Every professor is incredibly knowledgeable, but not all have the charisma & teaching skill necessary to make the heavy workload fun. A senior that I know says that it’s wiser to choose classes based on professors than on interesting course names.</p>

<p>Classroom discussions are fun and vibrant in my literature and playwriting classes, not because the students are particularly invested in those subjects, but because the teachers facilitate dialogue so well. My political theory class is so-so, and almost everyone is silent in my computer science class, which is basically just a lecture.</p>

<p>The freshmen were dazed by the intensity of the workload in September, but we’ve pretty quickly gotten used to it. It makes me proud to know that I’m able to be so productive. Homework is tough, but it’s certainly not impossible.</p>

<p>What do most students do for fun? Swarthmore is one of my top choice schools and I’m sold on the academics, but am trying to get a sense of the campus/social life.</p>

<p>It’s hard for me to answer this question, because there isn’t single activity that most students do. Sometimes you just hang out in a dormitory and talk for hours. Personally, I love to sit down with some friends and have converse all night long. Most students have balance between light/silly/fun conversations, and profound intellectual conversations. I’ve seen people build forts, have nerf gun battles, play the piano, play video games, drink, smoke pot, play card games, watch TV/movies. . .</p>

<p>There are parties every weekend starting on Thursday with pub nite. I’m looking at the weekend events schedule, and I see 4 parties happening this weekend plus pub nite on Thursday. I know that there was a tri-co party at Bryn Mawr college that pulled a lot of queer students away from the Swarthmore Queer Union’s end-of-the-year slumber party.</p>

<p>There are always special events happening on campus. Some are advertised in a twice daily email that we get called The Reserved Student’s Digest (weird name, I know). This is what’s in the digest today, but there’s probably less stuff than usual since finals start next week:
*
Saturday</p>

<pre><code>10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Shop with Heart - A Holiday Craft and Gift Benefit
11 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Radical Street Theater and Holiday Performance
8 p.m. YULE BALL
10 p.m. - 2 a.m. Mariachi Party
</code></pre>

<p>Sunday</p>

<pre><code>noon - 2 p.m. Info Session on Summer funding from the Lang Center
3 p.m. - 6 p.m. Gamelan and Taiko Concert
5:30 p.m. Advent Lessons and Carols Service
7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Sacred Harp Singing
</code></pre>

<p>Monday</p>

<pre><code>5 p.m. Dance Lab Showings
</code></pre>

<p>Tuesday</p>

<pre><code>5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. December Lottery
7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Pet Parlor Party!
</code></pre>

<p>Wednesday</p>

<pre><code>3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Give The Gift of Wellness
7 p.m. - 8 p.m. Multilingual Translation Reading
7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. A Night of Scenes 2011
</code></pre>

<p>Thursday the 8th</p>

<pre><code>2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. IC-BCC OPEN HOUSE
</code></pre>

<p>*</p>

<p>So far this weekend, I’ve been to a dance recital, a student council event, and a slumber party.</p>

<p>Of course, there are a ton of student groups to join. I’ll just give you a link and let you sort that our for yourself: [Swarthmore</a> College :: Student Activities :: Student Groups (A-Z)](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/studentactivities.xml]Swarthmore”>http://www.swarthmore.edu/studentactivities.xml)</p>

<p>***lso, do you think I have a shot at getting in with a 2040 SAT (760 CR, 700W, 580M), subject tests (Lit 710 US History 680) APUSH 5 and 4.0 GPA? My interview was extremely positive and my essay will be fairly strong Thanks ***</p>

<p>You meet Swarthmore’s standards, so you definitely have a chance. Don’t let the people on this forum get you down! If I’d listened to the people on the forum (and I almost did) I wouldn’t have even applied to Swarthmore, and look at me now! Over the years,there have been thousands of people who had better grades than I had in high school, or did more community service, or had rich and powerful relatives, but didn’t get accepted to Swarthmore. College confidential is really useful for some things, but the “rate my stats” thing is haughty, elitist, and unreliable. Some people might enter this thread and put me down for being an academic outlier, or an underrepresented minority. But you know what? We don’t act that way at Swarthmore, so screw those people!</p>

<p>***Reminder for everyone that first semester freshman year is completely Pass/Fail so classes may seem “easier.” Let’s see what the perception is after second semester. ***</p>

<p>This is probably true. Several Swatties have told me that they received their highest grades in the first semester.</p>

6

<p>When did you get your acceptance letter?</p>

7

<p>I applied ED II, and I was deferred. I must have received my acceptance letter before April 14, because that’s when an event for admitted students called Ride the Tide happened. I probably received it in March.</p>